Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to adding new profit centers into the home improvement retail environment by providing capabilities to add value to inventory items purchased by consumers. More specifically, in one exemplary embodiment, an integrated computerized system permits consumers to shop for, to design and price out, and to selectively order the wood and/or composite materials as formed and finished components for projects such as home projects, in a retail environment, and the tooling that will carry out fabrication of the components at a retail location for consumer selected goods.
Description of the Related Art
With the increasing interest by many homeowners for do-it-yourself (diy) projects around the house and the concurrent increased popularity of home improvement centers, the present inventor has recognized that the typical consumer can become quite frustrated attempting many projects, for a myriad of reasons. As examples, many homeowners do not have the tools, expertise, or patience to fabricate finished components for a home improvement project from raw building materials.
Although there are computer-based systems presently employed for use in a factory environment that process materials for specific applications, consumers generally lack access to this capability. While at this time many home improvement centers offer the service of certain types of straight cutting on a 4′×8′ sheet, utilizing legacy machinery, in many instances this is inadequate.
However, even if a consumer does have a component custom cut at their local home improvement center, they are often disappointed to find that it does not fit quite right when it is attempted to be installed. Such disappointment is often due, for example, to unintentional mismatches of tolerances or errors during measurement or cutting.
Moreover, a consumer might find a finished product in a store or while shopping online and wonder what the cost would be for such a project to be modified to conform to their surroundings, if it could, for example, be cut and formed for the specific dimensions intended, and then picked up at a local home improvement center as a package of components ready to be assembled.
The present inventor has recognized these problems and has realized that no system is currently available that would permit consumers to even consider this approach for implementing a project. No such system or concept is known in the art prior to the present invention, let alone a system that is integrated from the step of receiving consumers' queries through the steps of fabrication of components into a ready-to-assemble kit of parts, including the options of pricing for delivery and/or on-site installation.